If you have not heard of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 build-up and release you would have to be hiding under a rock. It has been the highest anticipated flight simulator release in many years and now its HERE.
MSFS 2020 promised and is delivering a wholly new level of graphics in so many areas of flight simulation. The level of accuracy provided by Bing maps and AI placing homes over the map has made most cities look amazingly accurate with the use of artificial intelligence to make your world even closer to the real thing!.
This latest iteration has made enormous steps forward in realism with a game engine by ASOBO Studio which currently uses Direct X 11 with plans to more forward to DX12 in the future. This is something of a surprise as DX12 is the latest release. DX12 will likely bring support for Ray tracing and DLSS giving unprecedented performance increases. The use of AI (artificial Intelligence) which is certainly being used with the Nvidia RTX cards and The latest AMD Radeon Video cards.
What is Microsoft Flight Simulator
2020 Price?
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 comes in several releases and therefore prices. There is the STANDARD edition at A$99.00 then comes the DELUX version at A$139.95 and of course the PREMIUM version priced at A$179.95.
So what’s on offer with the different versions? Should you spend more than the Standard version?
The Standard Edition.
The standard Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Edition comes with a good selection of 20 general aviation as well as jets with their own flight models and a selection of 30 handcrafted airports. This is more than most need to own in a flight simulator and for me the additional aircraft and extra hand-crafted airports are not worth the addition cost. That’s just my opinion of course. IF there is an aircraft or a handcrafted city not in the Standard version and its important to you then go ahead and purchase that version.
The Deluxe Edition.
The Deluxe Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 edition brings another 5 aircraft with their unique flight models and another 5 hand crafted airports. This makes the extra 5 aircraft and 5 airports worth $80A. This seems excessive to me for such a small additional list of features!
The Premium Edition.
The Premium Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Edition offers yet another 10 aircraft with their flight models as well as another 10 hand crafted airports. In effect this means the additional aircraft and scenery costs you $40A. Again I would call this excessive but there is an answer if your wanting not to purchase the whole flight simulator.
The Game Pass.
The GAME PASS option is another option to get yourself airborne in the world of Microsoft Flight Simulator because the game/sim is also available on the Xbox game pass for an ongoing cost. The simulator is also available through steam if that is your preference.
The published computer specifications are really a bit of a joke! Microsoft state the minimum requirements for flying your favorite aircraft around the world with the amazing scenery and forests of trees and towns and cities of homes is listed as:
Microsoft Windows 10 (1909 release)
I5-4460 or Ryzen3 1200
Nvidia GTX 770 or Radeon RX 570
8GB System Ram and 2 GB VRAM (Video card Ram)
Storage space of 150 GB
Direct X 11 installed.
Please do not take these seriously if your planning to spend the money and buy this beautiful flight simulator. You are honestly going to need something pretty serious to really enjoy this amazing flight simulator. These specifications are I believe truly misleading. Would it work? Maybe! Would you get what you see in the advertising? Absolutely not!
My Own Real-World Experience MSFS 2020
My own system is what I would refer to as a mid-range system with a Ryzen 2600, RTX 2060 Super 8GB (Video ram), 32 Gigabyte of system Ram DDR4 3200MhZ all on a Samsung SSD for storage. This was taken on initial loading of the situation in LOWI. This was done on the initial Ge Force Experience settings which I turned up some more items so I was getting 40-45 fps.
MSFS Performance on a Mid Range PC.
In checking my system performance, it uses upward of 16 gigabyte of system ram, uses 7 of my 8GB of video ram and the RTX 2060 super is running at near 100%. I get a good 40FPS in (LOWI) INNSBRUCK which is an amazingly beautiful airport to test the performance out.
This airport is surrounded by mountains covered in trees with and a very detailed town full of homes plus a river running through it. It is certainly the place to see the beauty MSFS 2020 offers. I have run my system at 1080P to get these results you see above so if you’re expecting the magnificently stunning graphics we see in the advertising which I am sure are all in 4K video your going to need a beast of system.
Conclusion
So in answering this question, Should I buy MSFS 2020 I would say Yes! Its an amazing looking simulator with a lot of room to grow in both performance as well as features. The introduction of VR personally is a big point but performance for those with lower to mid systems may be disappointed. My hope the power of Microsoft and Nvidia as well as AMD get the game or simulator as you like to call it optimized for the very best performance.
I hope we get to DX12 and even ray tracing would be amazing but you will need the very best system to really enjoy this as well as 4K which it is designed to be played in.
Finally I still maintain the STANDARD edition is the one to get. There is already an emerging selection of 3rd party addons that may offer more than already supplied! Enjoy!
Author.
Brendon McAliece is a multi lingual-expat who brings over three decades of flight simulator/PC building experience as well as over two decades of real world jet fighter experience as a weapons/egress technician. He holds a sport pilot certificate giving him real world flying experience. Hi travels have taken him from Europe to the Middle East, Asia and his home of Australia. He has a passion for travel, languages, Flight simulation as well as Guitaring and Coffee. You can read more in his blogs below.
Learn more @
DreamingGuitar.com – DreamingCoffee.com – LetsFlyVFR.com
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